AIDAN O’Brien describes last season as a “bit of a mess” for most of his horses, yet he still oversaw 15 Group/Grade 1 winners in five different countries. He also produced a champion two-year-old colt and accounted for five classic wins, two of which were wide margin winners at Epsom.
However, there is already supporting evidence to O’Brien’s conjecture that the body of form for a number of his troops was inconvenienced by the unconventional nature of the 2020 season, not least the recent performances of fillies Mother Earth and Snowfall.
From a combined 15 runs last season, the pair produced just one win each, but they have both doubled their tallies on the first time of asking this term; one now a classic heroine and the other s second favourite to become one after an excellent performance at York this week.
Japan and Broome are two others who have produced improved performances this term. And with that in mind, it seems plausible that the horses who still managed to hit the highest heights for Ballydoyle last year could be even better this year.
Love was right up with the best in the world last season, winning her three Group 1 races by a combined 18 and a half lengths. Could she be even better this term?
And what about runaway Derby winner Serpentine? In his comment for that horse, O’Brien talked about how much the team was looking forward to running him in the Arc before the contaminated feed saga embroiled and forced a change of plan. He has so much scope to improve this term.
The same can be said for the rest of his stablemates, not least the two-year-olds, six of which have won already, which should leave O’Brien with plenty of Royal Ascot options. Exciting times.
Three-year-olds
Battleground
3yo b c (5112-0)
War Front - Found
M Tabor & D Smith & Mrs J Magnier
He just got disunited coming down into the dip at Newmarket and when that happens it’s like the front wheels going forward and back wheels going backwards for a jockey, so all Frankie could do was stand up on him really. He’s a big horse and he’s never had to cope with that before. We’re thinking of the Irish 2000 Guineas for him and we’d be hopeful he can improve from the experience.
Bolshoi Ballet
3yo b c (315-11)
Galileo - Alta Anna
Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith
We were delighted with him at Leopardstown. We always thought a lot of him too last year. He won his maiden very impressively on his second start at Leopardstown and then he went to France (for the Group 1 Criterium de Saint-Cloud), even though we knew the ground was too heavy for him over a mile and a quarter, but we wanted to fly him for the experience, with a view to this year.
The plan was always to go to the Ballysax and the Derrinstown, and if everything went well, to go on to Epsom. He’s a well balanced, big-moving horse and he’s always looked uncomplicated.
Bolshoi Ballet will go to Epsom as a warm favourite to five O'Brien yet another Derby win \ Healy Racing
High Definition
3yo b f (3814598-1)
Deep Impact - Best In The World
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
A few days before declarations for the Dante we didn’t think he was even going to get to run so we were delighted with how he performed on Thursday. We knew if he was going to stay in the Derby picture he was going to have to run, just to keep Epsom as an option. We’ll wait and see how he is in the coming days before making a decision but he seems in good form back here since the race.
We had to ride him patiently because of what had happened. A week before, his blood just wasn’t right so we had to give him a chance in the race.
The race might not have been perfect for him either. The pacemaker was in there just to go an even gallop for everyone but maybe the leaders didn’t follow him at halfway and it probably didn’t suit our horse where he was at that time, but we were very happy with the way he finished off. I think his last three furlongs were faster than any other horse in the race.
Joan Of Arc
3yo b f (2-161)
Galileo - You’resothrilling
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
She won very nicely in her maiden on her first start this season and we were always thinking of the Irish Guineas for her then.
She went to the first trial in Leopardstown and that race was a little bit of a mess for her. She still ran a very nice race and finished fifth, not beaten that far, but we always thought that run was going to be left behind.
Sunday’s race was lovely for her really, it fitted in nicely and we were delighted with her. She looks like a filly that could get a mile and a quarter - Ryan mentioned that after the race - but the plan at the moment is the Irish 1000.
Mother Earth
3yo b f (23133032-1)
Zoffany - Many Colours
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
She seems to be fine after Newmarket. She obviously hasn’t done much since but she’s in good form and all being well she’ll be in Longchamp to take her chance tomorrow (Poule d’Essai des Pouliches).
She was always a good filly and has lots of good form as a juvenile and she wintered very well. She was very professional at Newmarket, where she made her experience count, but we think she is progressing all the time.
Santa Barbara
3yo b f (1-4)
Camelot - Senta’s Dream
Mrs John Magnier/Michael Tabor/Derrick Smith/Westerberg
We were over the moon with her in the 1000 Guineas. We were a little bit worried with the hard and fast ground for her, seeing as she had only had one run on soft ground. You’d want very quick feet to be effective at Newmarket on hard ground but she travelled very comfortably.
They went a little slower than ideal early and that meant that they were going down into the dip a little bit faster than you’d have liked for her.
You’d like the pace to be strong so that when they go down into the dip, they’re well warmed up but she wasn’t. She had been doing it very easy off the gentle pace early on and when they started to quicken, she just started swapping and changing a little bit.
Frankie (on Mother Earth) challenged Ryan very early going into the dip and Ryan probably went a little bit earlier than he wanted to go. She might not have been 100% ready, maybe. But she came out of it very well. We were delighted with her run and the plan always was to go from the Guineas to the Oaks.
The experience factor will still be an issue for her at Epsom but she probably learned as much in the Guineas as she would have in five normal races.
We knew that she had to run and had to get out there and the Guineas was the ideal place to go with her. We feel the whole experience will have done her very good.
Snowfall
3yo b f (3814598-1)
Deep Impact - Best In The World
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
We were delighted with her on Wednesday. We always thought the world of her last year and just things didn’t work out for her every time she ran. She obviously ran in a lot of good races as well. Maybe she’s got stronger over the winter and the little bit of a step up in trip has helped. Obviously she has a great pedigree, by Deep Impact out of a full sister to Found.
We’re delighted with her and I think Epsom is very much on the cards for her now, that’s what you have to aim for. She was always uncomplicated and professional.
Snowfall and Ryan Moore winning the Musidora Stakes this week \ Healy Racing
St Mark’s Basilica
3yo b c (25131-)
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
A week or 10 days before the Guineas, we had four of them in training for it and the plan was always to let some of them go to France and he was the one that we picked. He has loads of experience and we thought that he is a horse who could do both French classics, the Poulains and the Jockey Club.
There is no real particular reason we decided to go to France with him. I suppose the original plan last season was that he’d go to France on Arc day, for the Group 1 over seven furlongs, but then when it turned out we couldn’t run any of our horses there, that’s how he ended up going to the Dewhurst.
So it was kind of always part of his plan that if he went to France as a juvenile that he’d go back there after that.
The colts that went to Newmarket just didn’t fire on the day for various reasons but we’re hopeful they are all much better than that. He is in good form and we’re looking forward to getting him started.
Van Gogh
3yo b c (426212-8)
American Pharoah - Imagine
M Tabor & D Smith & Mrs J Magnier & Mrs D Nagle
Van Gogh was always a horse we thought was going to step up in trip after the Guineas. The ground was very fast at Newmarket and I think that caught him on his first run. He did plenty last year but he never really raced on fast ground and, when he was improving, he was doing it on soft ground towards the end of the season.
I think the quick ground just caught him out. You wouldn’t say he didn’t handle it but the race was maybe a couple of weeks too soon for him. He’d still be a possibility for Epsom, either that or the Prix du Jockey Club.
Wembley
3yo b c (322122-0)
Galileo - Inca Princess
Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier
He was just a little bit disappointing in the Guineas but we think he’ll leave that run behind him. We buried him early and maybe that wasn’t the right thing to do. He came through the middle of the field and coming down into the dip he just got a little unbalanced and got caught unawares. All being well, he’ll go to the Curragh for the Irish Guineas.
Older horses
Armory
4yo b c (44132-1)
Galileo - After
Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith
He’s a horse with a lot of speed that can really quicken. Coming off a slow pace in the Huxley, he showed a real turn of foot, having been dropped in early in the race. He’s a horse with a lot of class. He has an entry in the Prix d’Ispahan in France but at the moment we’re half looking at the Tattersalls for him and the Prince of Wales - those types of races.
Armory is "a horse with a lot of speed and class" which he showed in the Huxley Stakes at Chester \ Healy Racing
Broome
5yo b h (/40-111)
Australia - Sweepstake
M Matsushima/Mrs Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith
Last year was a mess for Broome. Nothing went right and we did all the wrong things with him. We said we’d start him early and gentle this year. He went to Naas and won very nicely and then went back to the Curragh and we have been delighted with both of his wins there. He’s a horse that could go back for the Tattersalls Gold Cup or the Coronation Cup at the moment and then with a view to Ascot after that.
Lope Y Fernandez
4yo b c (3023773-1)
Lope De Vega - Black Dahlia
Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier & Michael Tabor
The Lockinge was always the plan. We wanted to go to Leopardstown first and he won nicely there and has come out of that race (Heritage Stakes) very well. We’ve been happy with him.
We were trying different things with him last year. After the Irish Guineas we weren’t really sure he stayed or he didn’t stay. He does have a lot of speed, he always travels very well through his races but the Irish Guineas was a bit of a mess, it was very slowly-run and then turned into a sprint finish, so we didn’t find out very much about any of the horses. He got caught in a traffic jam and then made a lot of ground very quickly late in the race.
He ran well in a few big sprints after that but we weren’t really sure whether he was a five, six, seven-furlong or a mile horse. At the end we went for the Breeders’ Cup Mile and he ran a serious race in that. We were delighted with him, and we just had it in our minds this year that we’d train him as a miler.
Love
4yo ch f (4211513/111-)
Galileo - Pikaboo
Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith & Mrs John Magnier
She’s in full work and everything has gone well with her since she’s come back. The plan is that she could go for the Tattersalls Gold Cup and we’re very happy with where she is at the moment. She was very impressive in the Guineas and very impressive in the Oaks. I’m not sure you could say 10 furlongs is her best trip because she’s never run over that distance but she’s very uncomplicated.
Love is nearing a return to action \ Healy Racing
Japan
5yo b h (43359-1)
Galileo - Shastye
M Matsushima/D Smith/Mrs Magnier/M Tabor
Last year was a mess for most of our horses and I think it was for him as well. We started him in the Eclipse at Sandown and he ran a massive race there over the mile and a quarter - he wasn’t beaten very far by Ghaiyyath and Enable - but, in hindsight, I think it was a very tough race to start him back in.
We just felt it was too hard mentally on him to start him over that short a trip. This time we decided to go slow and start him gently and just felt that around Chester, over a mile and five (last week in the Ormonde Stakes), that he could cruise along and enjoy it. We wanted to have him coming home full of confidence and happy in himself. We were delighted with how it worked out. He could go for the Tattersalls if Love didn’t go there or he could go to the Coronation Cup.
Japan delighted the Ballydoyle team with his win in the Ormonde Stakes \ Healy Racing
Serpentine
4yo ch c (0/51144-)
Galileo - Remember When
Mrs J Magnier & M Tabor & D Smith
All is good with him and he’s nearly ready. It’s possible that he could go to the Tattersalls Gold Cup as well. We’re just trying to divide our options up a bit.
He was very good in the Derby and we decided to back off him then. The plan was to go to the Arc and we were really looking forward to him for that race. He came back after his break and ran very well in his Arc trial - Christophe Soumillon rode him and he was over the moon with him. We felt that he had improved a lot from that comeback run but then the Arc plans went out the window and we had to go back to Ascot for the Champion Stakes, over a mile and a quarter on heavy ground, so all of that worked against him although he still ran very well finishing fourth to Addeybb.
With all the messing around, we decided to stop there and give him a good break and we’ve been very happy with him through the winter. He’s nearly ready to start.
Two-year-olds
Cadamosto
2yo bb c (1)
No Nay Never - Saucy Spirit
D Smith/M Tabor/Mrs J Magnier/Westerberg
He has done very well since his win in Dundalk. He’s in the winners of one at Naas tomorrow. He’s a horse who works with plenty of pace and we’re very happy with him. We think he’s in a good place.
Contarelli Chapel
2yo gr f (1)
Caravaggio - Chenchikova
Westerberg/Mrs J Magnier/M Tabor/D Smith
She was working like a very special filly before she won at Naas and we were delighted with her there. She’s in very good order and she takes her chance at Naas tomorrow. She looks very exciting and has plenty of options at Ascot, all being well.
Glounthaune
2yo b c (1)
Kodiac - Khaimah
Mrs E M Stockwell & M Tabor & D Smith & Westerberg Ireland
He’s a lovely horse. He won first time up at the Curragh and the second horse has come out and won since. We’re going to take our time with him. He’s having a break now and he’ll come back and be trained for those good races in the last quarter of the season.
Glounthaune looks set to be kept for the big juvenile Group 1 races later in the season \ Healy Racing
Tenebrism
2yo b/br f (1)
Caravaggio - Immortal Verse
Coolmore/Westerberg/Merribelle Stables
She’s a lovely filly who won on the first day of the season at Naas. Similarly to Glounthaune, we’ve just backed off her and she probably won’t appear until the last quarter of the season. She’s a filly with a lot of speed and brilliance.